Review: The Economist Traveller Briefing Series

July 09, 2014

The Economist is my favorite magazine. It provides unbiased
articles on politics, science, culture, books, history and
business, all with a global focus. With this wealth of information
they have developed a series of "Traveller
Briefings" that cover reports for Brazil, Britain, China,
India, Russia, South Africa and South Korea.

Recently I purchased one of the reports. iTunes offers them for
$9.99 per report download. They are also available for the same
price on the Google Play store or as an interactive
PDF download.

I chose the China report
as Chinese translation for the Mainland is by far the most popular
Asian language with our clients for website localization, document
translation and Global SEO services.

What do you get?

The report starts with general facts and stats similar to what
you see in the CIA World Factbook on the different countries. It
lists populations, major towns, climate, currency, language,
holidays, system of measurement, political structure, GDP and trade
numbers, as well as a bit of history. This makes sense as a
starting point.

Key Takeaways from the China Report

Leading markets in 2012 are the USA, Hong Kong, Japan and South
Korea in this order respectively. Likewise the leading suppliers to
China are Japan, South Korea, USA, and Taiwan in order of the top
countries. The countries listed with the United States are
surprising. I would not have guessed that Hong Kong would import as
many goods from China as the USA. I also would not have guessed
that Taiwan would be tied with the USA as the #3 supplier to
China.

The report then goes into more detail on the political
landscape, by providing an overview of how the central government
and local governments are structured and who are the key political
leaders. They also provide analysis of the political forces that
have shaped the country. The report explains that while the current
national government officials were approved in 2013, the next
timeframe for change is 2018. The General Secretary Xi Jinping
should remain in his top leadership role until 2023.

The business section also offers a snapshot of China's economic
climate including investment and business policies in the country.
Their publication is called The Economist, so this is a
key section of the report which showcases their research on this
topic. Input such as informing that the Chinese government is
active in investing in business opportunities. Of late they have
become much more selective and emphasize opportunities for
investment that supports the interior of the country. The coastal
areas have plenty of investment on their own merit. The government
is also interested to provide investment where technology transfer
is an opportunity.

The report makes use of country-related articles
from the weekly issues of The Economist. Topics range from social
customs to shopping habits, politics and the environment. Basically
all magazine articles on a particular country are offered in this
collection, some dating back to 2006. One article was actually a
scan of an article published back in 1989.

The older articles are more culturally focused, while topics
related to business and politics tend to be more current.

I found it interesting that they included five articles that
they have identified as the most viewed from within China. These
include:

China's future - Xi Jinping and the Chinese dream

China's Internet - A giant cage (The internet was expected to
help democratise China)

Political reform - Defining boundaries (China's new leaders
seek to present a friendlier public face)

China's economy - Climbing, stretching and stumbling

The navigation is much like viewing the magazine online and
gives the reader a very positive experience.

In conclusion:

If you are planning to visit one of the countries in the series,
I highly recommend downloading the report. It will make a great
read on the plane to your destination. The countries currently
available are the BRIC countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China,
as well as Britain, South Africa and South Korea. As a translation
company, we see website localization, document translation or
Global SEO work for these top markets nearly on a daily basis.
These reports are useful to gain a well-rounded understanding of
the country, its market opportunity, political stability and
structure, as well as social customs and issues.

So next time you land in Moscow, Rio de Janeiro or perhaps Cape
Town, you can use your new found knowledge from these reports and
impress your local hosts with an appreciation and understanding of
their country.

Further Resources on E-Commerce Translation and
Localization

GPI has provided extensive language translation services to
e-commerce and e-retailer clients worldwide. In addition, GPI has
developed a user-friendly Translation Services Portal
that makes it easy for users in these industries to submit projects
for translation. For more information, check our services page eCommerce
Localization.

Comments

Peter Betts - Director, Global AccountsPeter has over 18 years’ experience in business development within the localization industry supporting clients for documentation, software and website globalization services. He started his career in the translation industry in 1995 and over the years has worked for several leading localization service providers including LMI, Berlitz, Welocalize, GPI and Beyondsoft. Throughout his career Peter has led by example and always put his clients’ needs first to ensure client expectations are understood and successfully met. Over the years Peter has trained extensively in Solution Selling, Action Selling and Localization Sales, Testing and Project Management. Peter handles many of GPI’s global accounts helping educate clients on GPI’s comprehensive suite of globalization services and industry best practices.